As a growing number of new internet providers start popping up, Chater’s Spectrum internet service will spend billions on expanding. This all comes as a joint effort of both Spectrum’s own money and the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund.
In total, Spectrum is planning on spending $5 billion over the next few years. $1.2 billion of that money will come from the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund, a government fund to bring high-speed internet to rural America. Spectrum will cover the rest of the $5 billion build-out of its high-speed internet service.
In 2022 Spectrum expanded rural internet to 200,000 new customers. Now Spectrum plans to reach 300,000 new rural Americans who, in the past, didn’t have a high-speed internet option from a traditional internet provider.
All of the RDOF funds are going to be used to build a fiber-to-the-home service, according to an email Spectrum sent Fierce Telecom.
Spectrum is facing competition, especially in rural America. SpaceX’s Starlink home internet and Amazon’s soon-to-be-launched home internet service are targeting rural Americans. Soon rural Americans may have multiple options for high-speed internet after spending years with no options at all.